Oscillating-shovel muck-remover for tunnels.



J. G. LBYNER & s. A. KNOWLES. OSGILLATING SHOVEL MUGK REMOVER FORTUNNBLS.

APPLICATION FILED APR, 25, 1910.

Patented Aug. 8, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

fiaey'afom- J. G. LEYNER & S. A. KNOWLES. OSCILLATING SHOVEL MUGKREMOVER FOR TUNNELS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 1910.

Patented Aug. 8, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' NER and SILAs A. KNOWLES, citizens of the I UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE;

JOHN GEORGE LEYNER, DENVER, AND SILAS A. KNOWLES, OF GOLDEN, COLORADO,ASSIGNORS OF THREE-FOURTHS TO THE 3'. GEORGE LEYNER ENGINEERING- WORKSCOMPANY, 01 DENVER, COLORADO, A CORPORATION OF COLORADO.

.OSCILLATING-SHOVEL MUOK-REMOVER FOR TUNNELS.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1911.

Application-flied April as, 1910. Serial No. 557,468;

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN Gronen LEY- United States of America, theformer residing at the city and county of Denver and State of- Colorado,and the latter residing at Golden, county of Jefferson, State ofColorado, have invented a new and useful Oscillating-Shovel Muck-Removerfor Tunnels, of which the following is a Specification.

Our invention relates to a new and improved oscillating shovel muckerfor removing blasted, broken-down, or crushed material such as ore,rock, gravel, and dirt, which --is termed muck, from the breasts oftunnels; and the objects of my invention are: first, to provide amachine having an oscillating shovel point for .removingand "the muckand works under it; and third, to

. rovide a muck removing machine that can e arranged in tunnels to, beforced directly under the body of muck. material at the breasts oftunnels, and thatjwill load the muck automatically onto cars, ordischarge it from the end of the conveyer, and as it. is drawn under thebody of the muck material.

We attain these objects by the mechanism. illustrated in theaccompanying drawings,

in which:-

Figure 1, is a plan view of the supporting frame of our oscillatingshovel muck removing machine, a fragment onlyofthe inclined conveyerframe, which is pivotally connected to the forward. end of the truck,being shown. And Fig. 2, is a vertical longitudinal section of ourimproved muck shoveling machine.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring to the drawings,".the frame of tlieinucker consists of theside beams 1 and thcross pieces 2; and these beams are preferably madeof structural iron. The frame is preferably mounted on car wheels 3,whichare rotatably mounted on axles 1, which are fully shown.

secured to the underside of the front and rear ends-of. the frame. Tothe front end ofthe machine are secured 'two capstans 5 and beams 1.Upon the center of the shaft 7, is secured a-gear 9. Parallel to theshaft 7, is mounted in suitable boxes 10-a-sha'ft 11,

and upon the central portion of this shaft 11, is secured a pinion 12,which meshes with the gear 9. At the side of the pinion 12, is secureda'gear 13, which meshes with a pin-- ion 14, on a shaft 15, which isrevolubly journaled in boxes 16, that are secured to the frame of themachine in any suitable manner. .To the shaft 15 is also secured a gear17, which meshes with a pinion 18, that is secured to shaft 19. A bevelgear 20 is also secured to the shaft 19, which meshes with a bevelpinion 21, secured upon a shaft 22,.that

is revolubly mounted in boxes 23, that are secured to a platform 24',which is attached to the side beams of the frame. This shaft isconnectedin any suitable manner to any suitable engine or motor, butwepreferably use, however, a compact rotary reversible Dake engine 25,and the shaft 22, is connectf. ed directly to the center disk of theengine, This engine is mounted upon and is securedsuitable manner to theframe of the 7 in an mach1ne.- The engine 25 thus drives the train ofgears above enumerated and rotates the capstans 5 and 6. Y

Uponthe shaft 15 is loosely mounted a sprocket wheel 15*, which isconnected by a chain 15 with a sprocket wheel 15, rigidly mounted ontheforward supporting axle 4 of the wheel frame. The sprocket 15" has aclutch which is normally engagled by a clutch 15 on the shaft 15, sothatt e power from the shaft 15 will be transmitted to the sprocket 15, bymeans of the chain 15 to move the machine either forward or backward;but when it is desired to raise or lower the inclined conveyer frame,the clutch 15 is thrown out of engagement with the sprocket wheel 15',as will hereinafter be The clutch, is operated by means of a lever 15The capstans each comprise a drum 25 and two flanged-portions 25 and25". One flange 25 of each drum, is made wide enough to contain acircumferential row of holes 25 that are adapted to receive one end of alever, by which they may be turned by hand when necessary.

To the drums 25*, we secure two ropes 26 and 27, the free ends of whichare secured to.

hooks 28, which engage the forward edge of a foundation plate 35, whichcomprises two heavy plates of iron that are detachably bolted togetherat their meeting ends by bolts 29. These plates form a smooth surfacefor the lip of the shovel to slide on, as

it is forced forward under the ore or rock or other material knockeddown at the breast of the tunnel. As our machine is adapted to be usedat the breasts of tunnels for removing and depositing in cars,

the rock, ore, dirt, or muck that is thrown down in blasting, we haveillustrated it in plan and elevation in operativeposition at the breastof a tunnel.

To the forward ends of the side beams 1,

is secured a supporting frame, which consists of side beams 36, whichare connected by a bottom plate 37 and a bolt 38. This bolt extendsthrough the front ends of the beams 36, and upon it is pivotally mountedthe improved muck shovel, which cons sts of a wedge shaped forging 39,which forms a shoveling lip, and rearwardly extending lever arms 39.This lip and the arms 39 of the muck shovel and the beams 36, arecovered by a heavy sheet steel plate 40, for a portion of their lengths,and the sides of this plate are sloped upward and inward from a pointadjacent to the edge of the lip of the muck shovel, so as to form atrough that will guide the rock, ore, dirt,

a chain with a sprocket wheel 39, on a Sleeve X loosely mounted on thedrum shaft 7 The sleeve X is also provided with a sprocket .wheel 39*,which is connected by a 1 chain with a sprocketv wheel 39, on a shaft 39mounted in bearings 39 on the side beams 1. The shaft 39 also carriesasprocket wheel 39, which is connected by achain with a sprocket wheel39, 011 the shaft 39,of an engine 39 similar to the engine 25. Thus, asthe shaft 39 with the disks 39 are turned by the engine, through themedium of' the chains and sprocket wheels above mentioned, the pitmanarms 39 im art an oscillating motion to the muck s ovel, which not onlyenables it to work'under the muck, butthe muck is thereby loosened oragitated so that it falls upon the plate or shield 40, whence it isdelivered upon an endless conveyer, which we will now proceed todescribe.

On the bolt 38 we pivotally mount one end of an endless belt frame 42,which consists of side pieces 43. and cross pieces 44. This endless beltframe extends rearward from the bolt 38, over and beyond the wheeledframe of the machine, and its rear end is supported and arranged to beraised and lowered over the wheeled frame to stand at any desired angleto convey the r ck, ore, dirt, or muck to its upper end, and dis chargeit directly into cars or if desired into a suitable supplementaryconveyer that will convey and discharge it into cars. In the beltconveyer frame adjacent to its pivotal bolt 38, and under the shovelplate, we rot-atably mount a roller 44*, on'a shaft 45, the ends ofwhich are rotatably supported in a steel or iron casting or a forging46,

which is secured to the side pieces 43 of the frame of the beltconveyer, and through the ends of which the pivotal bolt 38 passes, andalong the, center of the length of the belt conveyer frame atsuitabledistances apart -to support abelt, we mount a plurality ofrollers 47, in boxes 48, which are attached to the cross pieces 44 ofthe frame, and on each side of each of these central rollers, werotatably mount an inclined roller 50, which rollers are positioned atan upward angle from adjacent to the opposite ends of each of the centerrollers to the side beams of the belt conveyer frame, where their outerends are journaled in suitable boxes 51, which are securedto the sidebeams of the frame. The inner ends of these inclined rollers are alsojournaled in boxes 52, which are secured to the cross pieces 44. Uponthe tops of the boxes 51, are secured strips 53,which support the sideedges of the belt, between the rollers 50. These strips are connected attheir forward endsby an integral plate 53*, which is adapted to liebeneath the connear the ends of these strips, which guide the belt overa drum 55, which is mounted on a shaft 56, that is journaled in suitableboxes that are slidably mounted on the side rails at the outer end ofthe belt conveyer vframe, and a suitable belt tightener 57,

may be employed for maintaining the required tension upon the belt. Onthe rollers 55 50, 47 and 44, We place a suitable belt, which in runningover the inclined rollers forms a trough-shaped conveyer, that holds therock, ore, dirt, or muck in itscenter without spilling it over itssides. The drum shaft 56 is provided at one end with a sprocket wheel58, which connects by a chain 59 with a sprocket wheel 60, on a shaft61, mounted in bearings 62, secured upon the under side of the conveyorframe adjacent to its rear end. The shaft 61 also carries a sprocketwheel '63, which is'connected by a chain 6 1, with a sprocket wheel -65,on the shaft 39 of the engine 39 of the car, the movable tubeshavingthreaded rods 81 provided with bevel gears 82 at their lower ends,which mesh with bevel pinions 83 on the opposite ends of a shaft 84,which is driven by a chain 84c from the shaft 19, a clutch 85 beingemployed to throw the shaft 84 out of connection with the shaft 19, whenthe machine is in operation, and for connecting the shafts when it isdesired to raise or lower the conveyer. We have not, however,

more fully described the mechanism for raising and lowering theconveyer, as we may employ any other suitable mechanism foraccomplishing the same result, and a detailed description of this andotherfeatures of our invention is given in our pending application filedApril 19, 1910, Serial No. 556,327. A

Supportmg arms 86 are pivotally secured to the car, the opposite ends ofwhich are arranged to extend under the opposite side rails of theinclined conveyer when it is raised to its highest position, when itsweight rests on these supporting arms.

The operation of the improved'mucker is as follows: We preferably usecompressed air, as the motive .actuating fluid, and the engines on themucker are operatively connected to a suitable supply of it.? The breastof rock is drilled with a sufiicient number of holes to blast its entiresurface, and they are charged ready to be fired, but before a charge isfired, the floor plates 35 are laid down and the hooks at the ends ofthe ropes are hooked to the edge of the forward plate, while the muckeris run back a safe distance. The breast is then fired, and the ore androck fall onto the floor plates on the ropes. The mucker is thenrun upon the plates by starting the engine 25, which at the same time winds upthe rope, and forces the ram or shovel under the ore or rock. Theinclined conveyor is then elevated to the desired angle by throwing inthe clutch 85 that connects the shaft 19, with the shaft 84;, by meansof chain 84*. The shovel of the mucker is then forcibly drawn under thefallen ore or rock by the engine, which through the medium of the trainof gears causesthe shaft to rotate the capstans, which winds the ropeslowly: and draws the shovel of the mucker under the ore or rock, whileat the same time the shovel is given an oscillating motion by means ofthe pitman arms 39 which connect with the lever 39 of the said shovel,the pitman arms being operated by the disks 39 on shaft 39 which shaftis connected by sprocket wheels f'and chains with the shafts 39 of theengine 39*, the oscillating motion of the shovel causing the muck'to beloosened sothat it falls upon the, plate 10, which guides it onto theinclined conveyer, which is driven by the engine 39 The inclinedconveyer discharges, the ore and rock upon a supplemental conveyer ordirectly into a car. Themucker can be thus drawn forward under the oreor rock by the ropes until the shovel reaches the breast of the. tunneland all or the greater portion of the ore or rock will be automaticallyshoveled up and loaded into cars, while the small amount remaining atthe sides of the tunnel can be shoveled onto the endless inclined beltby a man on each side of the mucker. l/Vhen desired, a lever can beinserted in either one of the capstans and they can be turnedindependently to even up the ropes 26 and 27, so that they will be ofequal length, thus causing the pull to come in direct line with workinga much longer time.

While we have illustrated and describedthe preferred construction andarrangement of our mucker, we do not wish to be limited totheconstruction shown and described, as many changes-might be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, which contemplates anyarrangement of a carriage and oscillating shovel that can be drawn underor forced into a body of blasted ore orrock in a tunnel, and that isprovided with an endless conveyer belt that is arranged to elevate anddischarge it into cars. Having described our invention, what we claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a muck removing apparatus for tunnels, the combination of floorplates comprising sheets of any suitable metal adapted to be laid on thefloor of a tunnel, one edge of each plate being provided with adepressed step shouldered portion adapted to 7 receive the opposite edgeportion of the admechanism and with cables, the outer, endsof saidcables being provided ,with hooks arranged and adapted to hook over theedge u of the floor plate, being adjacent to the breast of said tunnel.

2. In an oscillating mucker'shovel for removing rock and other muck fromthe breast of tunnels, said tunnel being provided with floor plates, thecombination of a car arranged to rest on said floor plates and pro-'vided with motor operated power transmitting shafts and gearing, andprovided with a pair of forwardly extending arms, a shovel provided witha shoveling lip adapted to stand in shoveling relation to the floorportionf of said tunnel and pivotally sup-- ported by said arms adjacentto its shoveling lip and between its shoveling lip and its opposite end,upwardly extending and rear- ,wardly converging slde portlons on saidshovel, meansconnected to said power driven shaft and gearing includinga crank operated lever for imparting a 'vertically inclined oscillatingmovement to said shovel and its lip,.a muck conveyer operatively mountedon said car and arranged to receive muck from said shovel and to conveyit to and discharge it from the opposite end portion of said car fromits shovel, and means includingcable winding drums connected to saidpowerdriven shafts and cables connected at oneend to said drums andarranged to extend to and be secured at or adj acent to the breast endportions of saidfloor plates, said cable winding drums'and said cablesbeing arranged and adapted to. draw said oscillating shovel along thefloor portion of a tunnelinto and under muck thereon.

3. In an oscillating mucker shovel for removing a rock and other muckfrom the breast of tunnels, said tunnel'being provided with floorplates, the combination of a car arranged to rest on said floor platesand provided with motor operated power transmitting shafts and gearing,and provided with'apair of forwardly extending arms, a

shovel provided with'a-shoveling lip adapted to'stand in shovelingrelation to the floor portion of said tunnel and pivotally supported bysaid arms adjacent to its shoveling lip and between its shoveling lipand its opposite end, upwardly and rearwardly converging side portionson said shovel, means connected to said' power driven shaft and gearingincluding acrank operated lever for movement to "said shovel and itslip, a muck conveyer operatively mounted on said car and arranged toreceive muck from said shovel and to convey'it to and discharge it fromthe opposite end portion of said car from its shovel, and meansincluding cable winding drums connected to said power driven shafts andcables connected at one end to said drums and arranged to extend to andbe secured at or adj acent to the breast end portions of said floorplates, said cable winding drums and said cables being arranged andadapted to draw said oscillating shovel along the fioor portion of atunnel into and under muck thereon.

4. In an oscillating mucker shovel for removing rock and other muck fromthe breast of tunnels, said tunnel being provided with floorplates, thecombination of a car arranged to rest on said floor plates and pro-'videdwith motor operated power transmitting shafts and gearing, andprovided with a pair of forwardly extending arms, a shovel provided witha shoveling lip adapted to stand in shoveling relation to the-floorportion of said tunnel and pivotally supported by said arms adjacent toits shoveling lip and between its shoveling lip and its opposite end,upwardly and rearwardly converging side portions onsaid shovel, meansconnected to said power driven shaft and gearing including a crankoperated lever for impart-- ing a vertically inclined oscillatingmovement to said shovel and its lip, a muck eonveyer operatively-mountedon said car and arranged-to receive muck from said shovel and to conveyit to and discharge it from the opposite end portion of saidcar from itsshovel, and means including cable winding drums connected to said powerdriven shafts and cables connected at one end to said drums and arrangedto extend to and be secured at or adjacent to the breast end portions ofsaid floor plat-es.

5; In a muck shoveling machine for tunnels, the combination of a car,provided with beams projecting forwardly from its oppo site sides, ashaft between said beams, a shoveling lip tiltingly supported on saidshaft, rearwardly extending arms on said shaft, a pair of disks mount ed on said car and provided with wrist pins, levers secured at one oftheir ends to the wrist pins of said disks and pivotally secured attheir opposite,

ends to the arms of said shoveling lip, a conveyer frame pivotallyjournaled to the shaft of said beams at one end, and arranged to extendover and to the rear end ,of said car from its'shoveling 11p, meansmcludmg gen 1'- ing and telescop ng tubes mounted on said imparting avertically inclined oscillating car for raising the discharging end ofsaid conveyer to any desired position above said car and for loweringthe same to said car.

6. In a muck shoveling machine for turn nels, the combination of a car,a shovel tilt 'ingly supported by said car and provided operativelysupported by said conveyer" frame, means connecting said conveyer frameand said car for raising and lowering the discharging end of saidconveyer, and means including power driving mechanism on said car forimparting an oscillating movement to said shovel.

7. In a muck shoveling machine for tunnels,-a car, motors mounted onsaid car, power transmitting mechanism on said car connected to saidmot'ors,a shovel provided with a shoveling-lip pivotally andreciprocally secured to one end of said ,car, said shovel beingprovidedwith upwardly projecting sides arranged to slope toward its center ontheir upper shoveling surfaces, arms extending rearwardlyfrom said lipportion to and beyond the opposite end portion of said shovel from itsend lip portion, a lever pivoted at one end to the arm, crank diskspivoted to the opposite end of each lever, and means connected to saidcrank disks and said ,power operated mechanism for imparting anoscillating movement to said shovel and its shoveling lip, anendlessbelt conveyer on said car arranged and adapted to convey muckfrom said shovel to and to discharge it from the opposite end of saidcar from said shovel, and means including winding drums and cables forattaching said car to a point in a tunnel ahead of said car and itsshovel adjacent to the muck to be shoveled, and

'means for connecting said cable winding drums to said power rotatingmachmery and to said motors whereby said car and its shovel may be drawnforward in operative muck shoveling relation to the floorportion of saidtunnel.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN GEORGE LEYNER. SILAS A. KNOWLES. Witnesses:

G. SARGENT ELLIOTT, ROBERT J. WALTMAN.

